A mixed bag today. Many cryptic crosswords presuppose a modicum of acquaintance with a few languages other than English, and we must look out for this. French and German are the two main trespassers on English soil, and we will concentrate on those two. The definite and indefinite articles will be within the range of most solvers, either from schooldays or from travel, and not infrequently we shall come across "un", "une", "le", "la", "les", in French, and "ein" and "der" in German. Knowledge of personal pronouns, such as "je", "tu", "ich" and "du", will also help us, as will parts of the verb to be, especially "est" and "ist", while "ja" and "gut", will be as familiar as "oui" and "bon", etc.

Some examples, first French. "Put on in France to be a burden - and in England! (6)". The French for "on" is "sur", and we have SURTAX. "Spanish gent gets taxi in Paris to go round(9)". Here, between "cab" and "O" (a "round"), we are asked to place the French verb meaning "to go": CAB-ALLER-O. Now German, and a down clue. "One jumping from Colditz paces nervously - German is underneath (8)", where we have an anagram of "paces", plus the German for "is": ESCAP-IST. "Crushed oat not found in the German banger (9)". Here, an anagram of "oat not" is found inside the German "the": DE-TONATO-R.

Three for you. "Feat of conflict round here in France - get to be MC (9)". Not a bemedalled hero on the battlefield; and conflict is an anagram indicator for "feat of". "Hat that Parisian has to put on (5)." This is another down clue, with the first word as the definition. In "Love with German miss (4)", the last word is the definition.

Our second topic today is that occasional phenomenon, two successive clues connected with dots. Usually, the first clue is intended to have elements in its wording, letters, or sense, which will be of help in solving the second.

Consider: "In a very quiet old city, canteen needs renovating with a piece of equipment ... (12)"/"... Here's one to do it (9)." In the first clue, "renovating" acts as an anagram indicator, giving us A-PP-UR-TENANCE (a + pp: pianissimo + Ur: ancient city); but it also acts as the link with the second clue, the answer to which, naturally enough, is RENOVATOR. A second example: "Tincture priest had before starting to robe about eleven ... (6)"/ "... (Matins) tincture taken in part for gut feeling (8)." The answer to the first clue is ELI-XI-R; to the second clue, INSTINCT. We have two links here: "(Matins)" picks up the church-service idea; and "tincture" appears in each clue - in the second, as part of our hidden answer. Still flummoxed by cryptic crosswords? Email us your problem and we'll see if we can help.